EA Tries to Give Mojang Company Advice (And Fails)

EA is actually trying to drop "advice" (and I use that quite loosely) to Mojang about how to run their business (and drop a not-so-subtle hint that EA wants Notch's money).

Also, a nice little tidbit that that I thought was amusing~

"As somebody who has had to reinstall Windows on my son's computer after he attempted to install Mod Manager on that machine, there's a lot of value to be provided for the customer in making Minecraft and its mods and installations something that's a more commercial and predictable product," Hilleman said.

What in the actual hell.

And if you're wondering Notch's response on the whole thing~

Thoughts?

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How do you nuke a windows install with a mod manager? Is that even possible? Also I think EA have such a big hardon for DLC and pay for more content that you should get for free that they want everyone to do it so it becomes such a norm that no one feels shafted buy it when they do it. See the Sims franchise for the best example.

He's got some legit points, despite blowing a lot of hot air. We already know that Notch is a poor business man. Yeah, he made a ton of money and a fun game, but I know all of it wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for Jens and some of the other team members.

They're a young company who have had MASSIVE success, that can spell a lot of trouble down the line. It seems they've tried to man up to the new role, but they still have a ways to go. I don't believe Hilleman is right when he says "Mojang NEEDS publisher support", but he's got good points in accessibility and expansion of the game, which is their only real product and source of income at the moment.

Mojang has always lacked true focus, and they're fortunate to have gone as far as they have. Hilleman doesn't have the solution, but they will need to grow if they want to really compete with the big dogs.

"As somebody who has had to pay Geek Squad to reinstall Windows on my son's computer after he attempted to install Mod Manager on that machine, there's a lot of value to be provided for the customer in making Minecraft and its mods and installations something that's a more commercial and predictable product," Hilleman said.

He makes some good points but I would bet that Minecraft has their attention more because the success of Minecraft is something EA is actually afraid of. Minecraft is probably the biggest proof that games are becoming less and less dependent on big name publishers to be profitable. If more independent developers are able to create games that pull enough income to match the AAA titles (which cost millions to create) for a fraction of that cost companies like EA are screwed.

When I glanced at the title for this thread in the New Discussions area, at first all I saw in my mind was "EA tries to blah blah blah blah blah (And Fails)." Not sure what that says about me, or my thoughts about EA......

All that said, the points have some validity, even if the messenger is... well..... EA.

When I glanced at the title for this thread in the New Discussions area, at first all I saw in my mind was "EA tries to blah blah blah blah blah (And Fails)." Not sure what that says about me, or my thoughts about EA......

All that said, the points have some validity, even if the messenger is... well..... EA.

Well, I gotta admit that it's a little odd to see a message like that coming from EA. They're not exactly known for supporting player-created content... It is valid to say, though, that a game like Minecraft will benefit more than suffer from supporting the modding community. Hell, most games that have done it have benefited. Things like TES where the modding is half the reason most PC Elder Scrolls gamers even pick it up, and TF2 where Valve has been ACTIVELY MAKING MONEY for themselves /and/ the modders for their maps and whatnot. Shit, Team Fortress /exists/ because of mod. MOBAs are huge and making bank, and DOTA is just WC3 mod.

Point is, obvious is obvious, but it's still weird to hear it from EA.

He makes some good points but I would bet that Minecraft has their attention more because the success of Minecraft is something EA is actually afraid of. Minecraft is probably the biggest proof that games are becoming less and less dependent on big name publishers to be profitable. If more independent developers are able to create games that pull enough income to match the AAA titles (which cost millions to create) for a fraction of that cost companies like EA are screwed.

I think Mojang has their attention because EA makes money by paying attention to smaller gaming companies with money-making IP. I don't think EA is afraid; they've got good business sense and have thrived for so long, even in a declined gaming market, because of this. You can bet your ass they're taking notes, though.